Dan Manasoiu recently decided to challenge himself against 8-time arm wrestling world champion Sarah Backman to a friendly match in her own sport. Manasoiu would undoubtedly have the physical advantage over the majority of people on the planet as a 6 foot 7 and almost 300lbs elite athlete, but he doesn’t have any competitive experience in that sport at all. Although Backman is a lot smaller at 5 foot 8 and around 180lbs, she does have a gigantic advantage in experience in the sport on her side.
The match was all in good spirits with both Manasoiu and Backman smiling the whole way through, but they did also clearly put a lot into winning the friendly match as well. In the end though, Manasoiu couldn’t get Backman’s hand to move from the center and she was able to get his all the way down straight after his attempt. Dan Manasoiu jokingly challenged Canadian legend Devon Larratt to an arm wrestling match as well, although his odds of winning that would be even lower again of course. While Manasoiu at least had a size advantage against Backman, Larratt is 6 foot 5 and a little under 300lbs in his own right.
Although the worlds of professional grappling and arm wrestling might seem a million miles apart, this is far from the first time they’ve crossed paths. Larratt himself actually took on a challenge in the past when he decided to venture into grappling by having a friendly sparring match with Firas Zahabi. That was pretty much the same story playing out the other way round, as Zahabi was able to submit Larratt several times during their time on the mats. Both of these examples just go to show that there’s no substitute for hard work, and enough training will always beat a physical advantage.
Dan Manasoiu shared the footage of his arm wrestling match with Sarah Backman in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
